Readers Write: May 31
Media sending poor message to police
In the first paragraph of this AP story (“Ohio officer cleared in two deaths,” News, May 24) “white patrolman,” “137 shot barrage,” “two unarmed black occupants dead” are the substance of this paragraph. In the last paragraph, “22 mile high speed chase … that reached 100 miles per hour.” Is this responsible reporting? Why does the media diminish the crime and actions of offenders? What message are you sending both to the men and women who “serve and protect” as well as to your readers?
BRANDT ROSS, ATLANTA
Police shootings need accountability
How does one expect that so many people can have the patience to withstand the many pressures that are exerted because of the lack of intelligent thinking on the part of so many of our so called leaders and their subordinates? The people in Cleveland are an example of this. A sound is heard — like a backfiring car — a loud noise. As a result, everyone panics, including the police. A man and woman flee the sound, the cops pursue them. These unarmed people are fired upon over 130 times by the police. Who is the guilty person in their unnecessary deaths? Someone has to be responsible, for they died for no reason. It’s not safe to be stopped by the police, because one doesn’t know whether the outcome will be like that of the couple in Cleveland. The law is the law, and if one obeys it one assumes they will be alright. Tell that to the deceased couple in Cleveland.
DAVID CLARKE, BUFORD
Misleading info re: Obamacare
In response to Wednesday’s misleading column by Jay Bookman on U.S. Rep. Tom Price’s patient-centered health care reform legislation: First, it is an apples-to-oranges comparison between the employer exclusion in the Empowering Patients First Act and the “Cadillac Tax” under Obamacare. HR 2300 simply places a limit on the employer exclusion. Families are not penalized for having a more expensive health plan, but rather have to use after-tax dollars to purchase such a plan above the $20,000 threshold.
Obamacare, on the other hand, imposes a staggering 40 percent excise tax on plans above a certain threshold, which, I might add, is far more than what the vast majority of Americans would pay on the after-tax dollars they might use to purchase a plan under HR 2300. A limitation on the exclusion is far different than imposing an across-the-board punitive tax assessment.
Individuals under Obamacare receive no tax relief if they choose to purchase health coverage through the individual market — unless they receive a subsidy through Obamacare. In fact, under Obamacare, folks are additionally penalized through the tax code — thanks to the individual mandate — if they choose not to purchase coverage.
BRENT C. ROBERTSON, PRESS SECRETARY, U.S. REP. TOM PRICE, M.D.
Get on board the streetcar
The naysayers on the Atlanta Streetcar issue are not seeing down the track clearly. As pointed out by the writer (“Streetcar Has Positive Impact,” Opinion, May 26), one of the many benefits of a connected Atlanta Streetcar system will be to encourage growth in areas of our city that have known only “boarded-up businesses” for years. For those who have ridden the existing line, and enjoyed it, it’s hard to imagine not progressing into the modern age with rail transportation that not only circumnavigates the 22 miles of the Beltline but crisscrosses through other parts of the city.
As Atlanta has remained rather “disjointed ” in terms of its many great city neighborhoods and entertainment centers , this streetcar system could be the factor that brings it together, as well as helps revitalize areas that have been too remote, too long.
R. CARY BYNUM, ATLANTA
